The latest
incident, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday, comes as the city
continues to grapple with escalating gun violence.
A week ago,
Sergeant Abel Masava, a police officer, was fatally shot while attending a
crime scene in Tshabalala suburb.
Sgt Masava was
attending a scene with another officer and two complainants when he approached
a group of five men. One of the suspects pulled out a firearm and shot him in
the head, leading to his immediate death.
The Nketa
incident involved Mr Yeki Ncube, a member of the Nketa 8 Neighbourhood Watch
Committee, who was on patrol with two other members.
They
encountered three men carrying bags and requested to search them. Mr Ncube said
the suspect initially resisted the search request, claiming he and his
accomplices were innocent.
Moments later,
another suspect brandished a knife while his accomplice drew a firearm and
fired a shot aimed at Mr Ncube, who miraculously escaped injury and possible
death. The attackers fled into the darkness after the shooting.
“I still can’t
believe how the bullet missed hitting me. The guy just pulled out a gun and
fired a single shot aimed at me,” Mr Ncube recounted. He suspected that the men
might have just robbed a house in the area.
The community
is now living in fear, with residents expressing concerns about their safety.
Mr Golden Gadzirayi Nyambuya, a Nketa resident, said: “We are no longer safe
when armed men are roaming around in our streets at night. Neighbourhood Watch
Committee members patrol the suburb voluntarily, and now their lives are in
danger.”
Secretary of
the Nketa 8 B2 Square Residents Association Mr Prince Manditerera called on the
police to deploy armed officers to patrol alongside the neighbourhood watch
members to enhance security.
“The presence
of an armed police officer would act as a deterrent to these thugs. Right now,
our neighbourhood watch members are risking their lives patrolling the area
without any means to defend themselves,” he said.
Mr Manditerera
called for tougher measures to curb the rising cases of gun-related crime,
including tighter gun control regulations and increased police visibility in
crime-prone areas.
“We appreciate
the work that the police are doing, but we need a stronger partnership to
combat crime,” he said.
Bulawayo has
been grappling with a disturbing rise in armed robbery cases, with criminals
increasingly using firearms to terrorise residents.
Fuel service
stations have also become prime targets, forcing business owners to alter their
operating hours by closing early instead of remaining open 24 hours for
security reasons.
Earlier this
month, six armed robbers were gunned down by police detectives at a tollgate
along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road. The gang had earlier in the night
robbed a grocery store in Juba, Insuza, in Umguza District. Chronicle
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